Checklist from Pediatrician Dr. Jennifer Shu

When you get up and go with your new baby, you’ll want to keep essential supplies close at hand for all but the shortest excursions.  Technically, all you really need in a diaper bag are diapers and a few wipes, but most parents find it helpful to include some other tricks of the parenting trade, especially if you’ll be out long enough to span a meal or naptime.  You can even make your own checklist to be sure you don’t leave home without something you’ll miss.

o        Diaper bag, backpack or other container

o        Diapers

o        Baby wipes

o        Diaper ointment

o        Diaper changing pad - You can get disposable ones, use a vinyl reusable version or just bring a small towel.

o        Food/drink - This may include a bottle or sippy cup, water, formula/breastmilk, and/or snacks for you and baby.

o        Change of clothes - Definitely for your newborn, but quite possibly for yourself as well.

o        Plastic bags to hold dirty diapers after changes

o        Sun protection (sunscreen or sunblock, hat, sunglasses)

o        Camera to capture those special moments.  Never again will you say “I wish I had brought my camera!”

Upon returning from your excursion, restock your diaper bag right away so that it’ll be ready to grab the next time you head out.

About Dr. Jennifer Shu
Jennifer Shu, MD, is a pediatrician, author and mother in Atlanta. Her passion is educating parents on all topics relating to children. Dr. Shu is editor-in-chief of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ (AAP) Baby & Child Health and co-author of the award-winning books Heading Home with Your Newborn and Food Fights, both published by the AAP.

An enthusiastic and experienced writer and public speaker, Dr. Shu is a medical expert on CNNHealth.com, a member of the Parents magazine Board of Advisors and an editorial advisor for the AAP’s Healthy Children doctor’s office publication. She has been featured as a guest expert on CNN, NBC Nightly News, Headline News, MSNBC and Discovery Health, as well as in Newsweek, US News & World Report, USA Today, US Weekly, and numerous parenting magazines, newspapers and medical publications.

Dr. Shu received her bachelor’s degree at the University of Virginia and her medical degree from the Medical College of Virginia. Dr. Shu completed her pediatric training and chief residency at the University of California in San Francisco. She has been a leader within the medical profession as a past national chairperson of the young physicians sections for both the American Medical Association (AMA) and the AAP.

Baby Sleeps Safe was recently reviewed by MomsLikeMe.com’s Try It Before You Buy It team.  See what they said…

I think every parent of a new baby has a little bit of anxiety in them about different things. The main topic lately seems to SIDS in the first year of life. I know when I had my son I was particularly paranoid and occupied about finding out every little piece of information on how to decrease the chances of this happening in our family. We had it all the video monitor, the heart/breathing monitor thing etc.. but one of the most beneficial came as a gift from someone. It was called Baby Sleeps Safe. I just had a conversation with two of my friends (one has a 1 month old the other has a 4 month old) about this product so I thought great now I can get two more reviews.

The Baby Sleeps Safe is very similar to the sleep sack except one key thing…..the Baby Sleeps Safe has a Velcro piece that attaches to the babies back and wraps around your mattress. The Velcro is designed to allow your baby to roll on his/her side if that’s a position of comfort. The fabric is 100% flame resistant cotton and comes in 4 colors: Blue, Pink, Yellow, and Cream. The fabric looks and feels like it’s really comfortable. The sleep safe is really long. (my son would still fit in it at 13 months) My son always looked like he felt secure in it.  (read the rest of this entry)